The New Yorker f**ks up (ironically)

Yes, yes, its a satirical cartoon. Its the New Yorker. They don't mean it. It's ironic. Everyone gets that. The point is that right now, that image is on every news channel, in every paper, on every blog and in thousands of emails, winging their way around the country. And each time that image changes hands, the irony rubs off a little more. Let's see how much of its satirical intent survives once it's on a t-shirt. Irony is useless against the smears because they, took, are insincere. Very few people actually believe that Obama is a terrorist/Muslim/BlackPanther/Radical/Whatever. Not in the same way they believe the sun is going to come up in the East tomorrow. Not in a way they would bet their children's lives on. It's simply the insult they lob when asked why they won't vote for him. (It's easier than saying "because he's black.") That's why even denials of the rumors — even ironic portrayals of the rumors on the cover of smart magazines — do nothing but propagate them. I hate to court the charge of humorlessness but I think The New Yorker have fucked up.